Study: Your Blood Type Has No Bearing on Your Nutritional Needs

Bad news for fans of the so-called blood-type diet: There's officially zero evidence to back up the idea that your blood type affects what you should eat and what type of exercise you should do to lose weight and reduce your risk of chronic disease, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

In case you're not familiar with the blood-type diet, it was created by naturopathic physician Peter D'Adamo and makes the assumption that people with different blood types process various foods differently. It's also pretty restrictive. For example, type Os are instructed to eat more meat, avoid dairy and grains, and partake in vigorous regular exercise; type As are encouraged to do more relaxing exercises like yoga but avoid meat and dairy.

Back to the new study: Researchers at the University of Toronto analyzed the blood types and dietary habits of nearly 1,500 participants, then gave each a "diet score" based on their relative adherence to the regimens prescribed in D'Adamo's best-selling book, Eat Right for Your Type. And they found…well, not much of anything. There was no clear association between blood type and the benefits of following its designated diet.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing—it just means that, rather than following a complicated eating and exercise plan designed just for you, making smart lifestyle choices like eating well and moving regularly is your best bet for staying healthy.

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